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Wikipedia engulfed in row over Rorschach tests
The Telegraph ^ | 7/30/2009

Posted on 07/30/2009 8:51:14 PM PDT by bruinbirdman

Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, has been drawn into a row over its decision to publish common responses to the 10 Rorschach inkblots.

The plates were created by the Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach for his book "Psychodiagnostik," published in 1921. Because they were made more than 90 years ago their US copyright has lapsed.

However, psychologists have complained that publishing the inkblots and responses is the equivalent to putting answers to school exams on the internet.

"The only winners seem to be those for whom this issue has become personal, and who see this as a game in which victory means having their way," one Wikipedia poster named Faustian wrote on Monday, adding, "Just don't pretend you are doing anything other than harming scientific research."

Initially Wikipedia had just one of the inkblots online, but the row intensified in June, when James Heilman, an emergency-room doctor from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, posted images of all 10 plates to the bottom of the article about the test, along with what research had found to be the most popular responses for each.

"I just wanted to raise the bar whether one should keep a single image on Wikipedia seemed absurd to me, so I put all 10 up," Dr.

Heilman said in an interview. "The debate has exploded from there." Psychologists have registered with Wikipedia to argue that the site is jeopardising one of the oldest continuously used psychological assessment tests.

The plates have appeared on other websites, but it was not until they showed up on the popular Wikipedia site that psychologists became concerned.

"The more test materials are promulgated widely, the more possibility there is to game it," said Bruce L. Smith, a psychologist and president of the International Society of the Rorschach and Projective Methods, who has posted

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: psychology; rorschach; wikipedia
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1 posted on 07/30/2009 8:51:14 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
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To: bruinbirdman; Petronski

No hiding inkblots that looks like the downtown cash-n-prizes from THE INTERTUBES!!!!


2 posted on 07/30/2009 8:53:32 PM PDT by cyborg (The Cyborg Show brought you by the Apple iPhone)
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To: bruinbirdman

Without the data set collected over the years, who cares?


3 posted on 07/30/2009 8:54:33 PM PDT by Petronski (In Germany they came first for the Communists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist...)
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To: bruinbirdman

I see demons, and they’re all on a certain side of the aisle.


4 posted on 07/30/2009 8:54:35 PM PDT by Fester Chugabrew
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To: bruinbirdman

To me that looks like someone in an Easter Bunny suit lying in chocolate.

Does that make me mentally ill?


5 posted on 07/30/2009 8:55:52 PM PDT by ReneeLynn (Socialism, it*s the new black.)
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To: ReneeLynn
I see two of these...

Does that make me mentally ill?

6 posted on 07/30/2009 8:58:00 PM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 191 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: bruinbirdman

Almost any sufficiently clever person could game a psych test if he or she wished. Ninety years — and nobody has produced any new and improved ink blots? Isn’t that a bit ossified for a “science”?


7 posted on 07/30/2009 8:58:25 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (The Democrat Party: a criminal organization masquerading as a political party)
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To: bruinbirdman

8 posted on 07/30/2009 8:58:25 PM PDT by WVKayaker (God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.-D.Webster)
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To: bruinbirdman

I remember a book called “Big Secrets” published back in the 80’s which revealed the common answers to these tests as well as common interpretations of each answer by psychologists.


9 posted on 07/30/2009 8:59:33 PM PDT by SeeSharp
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To: null and void

I would love to see two of those, simultaneously, in person or after they blot the paper with chocolate.


10 posted on 07/30/2009 9:00:43 PM PDT by going hot (Happiness is a Momma Deuce)
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To: ReneeLynn

Does it talk to you? And more importantly, do you answer?


11 posted on 07/30/2009 9:01:58 PM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: null and void

Two women or two strawberries? I don’t see either, so...yeah. Off to the re-education camp for you.


12 posted on 07/30/2009 9:02:25 PM PDT by ReneeLynn (Socialism, it*s the new black.)
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To: count-your-change

No, but I think someone murdered the bunny and he’s floating in a pool of chocolate, face down.


13 posted on 07/30/2009 9:03:44 PM PDT by ReneeLynn (Socialism, it*s the new black.)
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To: ReneeLynn

Easter bunny with double Bart Simpson head bursting through a pair of chocolate chickens?


14 posted on 07/30/2009 9:05:27 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (The Democrat Party: a criminal organization masquerading as a political party)
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To: null and void
Does that make me mentally ill?

Yes! She doesn't have any whipped cream on the strategic places... ;)

15 posted on 07/30/2009 9:06:56 PM PDT by John123 (Turn on your teleprompter Obama and read your lips... "No New Taxes!!")
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To: bruinbirdman

Looks like someone spilled their ink on a blotter to me. Maybe it was the new kid, Rorschach, he was always spilling stuff.


16 posted on 07/30/2009 9:08:06 PM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Someone find the Cadbury bunny! There’s your culprit.


17 posted on 07/30/2009 9:08:35 PM PDT by ReneeLynn (Socialism, it*s the new black.)
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To: SeeSharp

Great book.


18 posted on 07/30/2009 9:13:22 PM PDT by JimC214
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To: bruinbirdman

19 posted on 07/30/2009 9:16:53 PM PDT by Future Snake Eater ("Get out of the boat and walk on the water with us!”--Sen. Joe Biden)
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To: ReneeLynn

O.kayyyyy then. You’re not nuts but no more week end passes for you.


20 posted on 07/30/2009 9:20:11 PM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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